


all the roads i take (they never lead me home)

by wolfodder



Category: VIXX
Genre: Gen, M/M, Taekwoon-centric, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-10 22:00:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12308688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfodder/pseuds/wolfodder
Summary: He didn’t mean to get involved and meddle in their relationship. He’s always just been a traveller, an explorer jumping through time, never really getting attached to people. Then, at some point, he met Hakyeon. He met Jaehwan, in the same timeline. He saw the stars in Hakyeon's eyes when looking at Jaehwan and knew they could do the rest on their own.





	all the roads i take (they never lead me home)

**Author's Note:**

> This started as something I was going to write for shiritori, then I got the additional prompt "time distortion" and somehow this happened. I wrote it all in one evening (which is unusual for me so go me right?) so it's unedited and very possibly rushed, but I wanted to post it now. hope you like it!

“Hakyeon has never loved anyone else as much as he loves you. Please talk to him.”

“What?” Jaehwan looks at Taekwoon in confusion, thumb frozen over his phone screen. Taekwoon had burst into his room with only this phrase on his mind, not thinking further than that. “Who?”

Taekwoon looks blankly at him, eyes wide in realization. “Fuck,” he murmurs. He sees it now, the details in Jaehwan’s room that hint to where he is in his life. He isn’t supposed to meet Hakyeon until in a few months. “Shit, I’m early. I’m sorry, I need to leave.”

“Wait, Taekwoon-” Jaehwan starts, but Taekwoon cuts him off. He can’t give away too much.

“No, Jaehwan, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be back later,” he calls, already in the hallway. When he’s just outside the apartment, he checks for people. No one there. So he presses the button on his watch, and feels himself being pulled through time, hoping to God that he’ll land at a better time. A time when Jaehwan knows who Hakyeon is.

 

 

He didn’t mean to get involved and meddle in their relationship. He’s always just been a traveller, an explorer jumping through time, never really getting attached to people. Then, at some point, he met Hakyeon. He met Jaehwan, in the same timeline. He appeared throughout their timestreams. It wasn’t hard for Hakyeon to rope him into a coffee or a movie night, or for Jaehwan to drag him with him to the arcades, until they both considered him their friend, before and after they met each other. He was involved in their first meeting, too. He saw the stars in Hakyeon's eyes when looking at Jaehwan and knew they could do the rest on their own.

He keeps landing in the wrong times, however, unable to control when to go. By the looks of it, he's definitely come too far back again.

"Fuck this machine," he grumbles. "You suck." If only he could control when he would land, things would be so much easier. He’s certain his time jumper is broken.

"Hakyeonnie, come in for dinner! Be careful crossing the road!" a voice calls, and Taekwoon whips his head around to see a little boy, maybe six or seven years old, crossing the road, at the same time that a car approaches at a high speed.

Out of instinct more than anything, he rushes to catch up with Hakyeon, picking up the little boy and carrying him out of the road just before the car rushes past, horn blaring. He holds little Cha Hakyeon close for a moment, heart racing in his shock, and then puts him down, remembering he shouldn't crush his friend to death right after saving his life.

"Hey kid, are you okay?" he asks, inspecting him for damage.

The boy nods excitedly, eyes big. "You're like Superman," he says.

Taekwoon grins something bashfully and ruffles his hair. "Look both ways before you cross the road, okay?"

Once Hakyeon goes home, his mother wailing about how worried she was when she realized what happened, Taekwoon watches the door close behind them and breathes out a sigh of relief. Hakyeon is his best friend and he almost got killed right in front of him, and at such a young age.

He may never land where he wants to, but he always lands where he is needed. He doesn't want to imagine the mess that would have happened if Hakyeon had died before he got to meet Taekwoon properly. All the memories, gone even as he jumps through time.

"Okay, one more try," he says to himself, to his time jumper. "Please don't fail me."

Another jump, and he's back in Jaehwan's apartment. It seems quiet, and he wonders for a moment if no one is home, but it's dark outside, so maybe Jaehwan is sleeping.

He takes a look around the living room, trying to gauge when he is. There are some pictures of Hakyeon on the fridge, so they must be together. He notes that there are more pictures strewn on the floor. A video game controller is precariously leaning on the sofa armrest; Taekwoon picks it up and sets it down on the table, next to an empty beer bottle.

"Jaehwan?" he calls cautiously into the air.

"Taekwoon? Is that you?" His voice comes from the bedroom, and Taekwoon follows it, enters the room.

Jaehwan is sitting at the floor next to his bed, tears streaking his face. "Taekwoon," he says, voice shaking. "Did you... did you hear?"

A terrible dread sets into Taekwoon. He knows, Jaehwan doesn't get this wrecked for nothing. "Hear what," he says.

Tears begin to fill Jaehwan's eyes again. "Hakyeon, he-" He cuts himself off with a sob. "He was hit by a car this morning. It went- it- it went too fast- there was no chance-" Jaehwan hides his face in his hands and sobs uncontrollably.

Taekwoon's knees buckle underneath him, and he drops to the floor in shock. "I-" His voice is barely a whisper. "I told him to look both ways. I told him...just now." If Jaehwan heard him slip up, he doesn't show it, doesn't ask. It's just as well, because Taekwoon is shaking all of a sudden, not knowing what to do with himself.

Hakyeon is dead.

He could save him. He could go back in time to this morning and stop this from happening. He could stop it all. He could...

He could be stuck jumping through time for weeks until he finds the right moment. He could leave Jaehwan to grieve alone while he goes on a stupid quest to stop Hakyeon from being run over, again.

He was warned, when he received his time jumper, that preventing a death that has already occurred is dangerous. There's no getting his friend back.

No, he won't leave Jaehwan. Not like this. "I'm sorry, Jaehwan," he says. A hand on Jaehwan's shoulder has his friend pulling him into a tight hug, sobbing into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

Jaehwan says nothing for a while, just whimpers, and Taekwoon holds him tight, begins to feel the tears coming as reality sets in. He can't time jump his way out of this.

"H-he, he was your friend too," Jaehwan mumbles eventually. "I'm sorry too."

Not trusting his voice, Taekwoon simply nods. He strokes Jaehwan's back gently, finding comfort in the touch.

"I just hate," whispers Jaehwan, "that the last words I said to him were so mean. I can't believe I fucked up like this. I can't believe- he's gone and that's the last memory I have of him. The last he had of me."

"I'm sorry," Taekwoon says, feeling like a broken record. But an idea forms in his mind, a reluctance to have this be the last of them, of Hakyeon and Jaehwan's story. He feels some sort of responsibility for them, feels like he needs to help them, if he can. He may see Hakyeon again in times before his death; Jaehwan will never see him again. They deserve closure at least, if he can't save Hakyeon.

First, however - he looks at the time, close to midnight - he needs to take care of Jaehwan. "I'll make us some tea," he suggests, gently peeling his friend's arms off his waist so he can leave the room.

He spends the night with Jaehwan, drinking tea and speaking in soft voices about Hakyeon and their fond memories together. Taekwoon hugs Jaehwan as they drift off to sleep; Jaehwan sobbing, Taekwoon crying silently.

The next morning, while Jaehwan is still asleep, Taekwoon devises a game plan; he will time jump until he can find Jaehwan in the period between his fight with Hakyeon and Hakyeon's death. He'll be damned if he can't guide them towards the closure they need and deserve. He scribbles a quick note to Jaehwan about a very important errand and that he will be back, and jumps.

This time he is just in time to see Hakyeon out to a date with Jaehwan. It’s early in their relationship, and while Taekwoon has to take several breaths at seeing his friend alive and well, Hakyeon can barely contain his excitement. “He’s so pretty, Taekwoon, God, I can’t believe he’s interested in me!” he says. “He told me more or less the same thing last time,” Taekwoon replies with amusement. “You two are great together.”

He sees Jaehwan in middle school with his head down, remembers being told about the bullying he suffered. Jaehwan hides in a bathroom stall, and his sniffles carry through the bathroom. Taekwoon is glad, for his sake, that there’s no one else there. “Hey,” he says quietly. The sniffles stop for a moment. “You don’t know me, but I know what you’re going through and I’m sorry. You’ll get through this, I promise.” When young Lee Jaehwan unlocks the door, he’s already gone.

He holds Hakyeon through his sobs for another heartbreak, tells him that that guy didn’t deserve him, and that when he’s ready for it, there will be someone who will love him boundlessly. “Do you think so?” Hakyeon hiccups. “I know it,” Taekwoon assures.

He pops into Jaehwan’s apartment, but doesn’t bother finding out what date it is when he hears moaning from the bedroom, making another jump rather than sticking around.

“Superman!” It has to be a few months, maybe a year, after he saved little Hakyeon from the car. It flatters him that the boy remembers him. “Hey, kid,” he says. “You’re looking both ways, right? Don’t forget.” The little boy nods happily. Taekwoon’s heart hurts.

He is in the arcades with Jaehwan, playing a racing game, losing. When he does lose, Jaehwan jeers excitedly and decides this is cause for a celebration. “I’ll buy you a drink for being such a good loser,” he says.

He’s still tipsy when he meets Hakyeon and Jaehwan for a night out. He makes faces when they kiss on the dance floor, then grimaces even more when they both kiss him on the cheek. Still, he crashes into bed with them hours later, mumbling “I love you guys” as he falls asleep.

He keeps jumping like this, meeting them both at various times throughout their timelines. At important times in their lives, and less important times. He almost loses track of his original plan through the many adventures he experiences with Hakyeon and Jaehwan, but it’s always in the back of his mind, niggling at him whenever he looks at Hakyeon.

Finally, he finds Jaehwan at work. “A latte, please,” he says, and Jaehwan blinks at him, no doubt recognizing him by the voice first.

“Long time, no see,” he says. Taekwoon wouldn’t know, so he doesn’t reply to that. But he knows this is the right time, can tell not only by the date, but also how down Jaehwan seems.

Once he gets his drink, he hangs around Jaehwan’s area. “You should talk to Hakyeon. He misses you.”

“I really hurt him last time,” Jaehwan says. “I don’t think he wants to see me.”

“He does,” Taekwoon insists. “You’d better talk to him soon. And apologize. Or I will hunt you down by the end of the week.”

“Damn, protective much?” Jaehwan sighs. “It’s not like you’ve been around the past couple of months.”

“I just know you’ll regret it if you keep this grudge up for much longer. He loves you. You love him. It’s better to get through things together.”

“Fine,” Jaehwan concedes. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Thank you.” And Taekwoon sips on his latte, relief sinking through him.

Now that he’s done what he wanted to do, he feels as though he’s on a roll. He may never see Hakyeon after his death, but there is so much of his and Jaehwan’s lives that he wants to be a part of. He feels the resentment in Jaehwan’s words. “It’s not like you’ve been around.” He wants to be around. So he pays for his drink, and jumps.

“When did you get here?”

Hakyeon looks younger than their first meeting, probably just started studying. “I- just now,” he says.

“Alright,” says Hakyeon. “You’re early, but whatever. Can you help me with these party decorations? People will be here in two hours and this place looks bland.”

“Yeah, I mean… sure.” He takes a look in the bag Hakyeon offers him and begins to put up some decorations.

“You’re that guy,” says Hakyeon. “Right? You saved me from being hit by a car when I was about six.”

Taekwoon freezes. He shouldn’t know him - but then again, Taekwoon has met him a few times when he was little. He just didn’t expect him to remember.

“You look exactly the same. How come?” Hakyeon is so calm, so clearly knows that something is up, that Taekwoon can’t help but smile.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me,” Hakyeon says cheerily. “Are you immortal? Or a time traveller? Are you really Superman? I’m open to suggestions.”

So Hakyeon knew all along. Taekwoon never said anything to the boys, about who he really was, about his time jumper. He didn’t want to burden them with that kind of knowledge, and he was always told he had to hide it, just pass through and be done. Ever since he met Hakyeon and Jaehwan, however, there has been no simple passing through; they became his life.

He chuckles, fondly, and holds up his wrist. “See this watch?”

 

 

He leaves before the party starts, not interested in mingling with Hakyeon’s new college friends, and jumps again. He lands, to his great surprise, in Jaehwan’s quiet, grief-stricken apartment.

He almost wondered if he’d ever come back.

“Did you finish your errand?” Jaehwan is standing in the doorway to his bedroom, hair messy and eyes sleepless.

“Yes.”

Jaehwan nods. “I can feel it. I feel lighter because we… made up. Hakyeon and I.” He bites his lip. “Thank you.”

“You knew, too?” Taekwoon isn’t entirely surprised at this; things seem to be coming to light, at this time.

“You were always weird. You came at random times, and seemed to know things about us that we didn’t even know. I recognized your voice from sometime a long time ago. Besides, he told me.” Jaehwan has a small smile on his lips, as though remembering good times. “About the Superman-like guy who saved his life once. You couldn’t- couldn’t do it again?”

Taekwoon shakes his head solemnly. “I’m sorry. There are laws. You can’t mess with this stuff.”

“I kind of expected that.” With a few steps, Jaehwan is close enough to tug him into a hug; Taekwoon presses his eyes shut, hoping for the tears to stay. “Thank you,” Jaehwan says again. “For everything. Please stay. Don’t go away again. I need my friend.”

There’s no choice to be made, not really. Taekwoon has made these two men his life a long time ago. With Jaehwan grieving, with himself grieving, there’s no point for him to jump around in time anymore. He needs his friend, too.

A few days later, he’s still there. He’s never stayed in a time longer than one or two days, but now he’s not going anywhere. He leaves his time jumper in a small intricate box underneath his bed, almost forgets about it. He doesn’t need it anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are appreciated <3  
> [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/wolfodder)


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